N.Barnes, Youngstown Artist & Button Maker

buttons

I will be downtown giving away free buttons to “snowflakes” before the GOP candidate for the 2020 Presidential Election arrives here in Youngstown for a political rally today. Yes, he is campaigning already… the man is still stuck in campaign mode, doesn’t know how to BE presidential, or maybe he just needs his ego stroked by 20,000 adoring fans cheering him on as he spews more lies.

Sorry, Trump supporters… everyone is entitled to their own opinion and this is mine.

That’s what makes this country great. We are ALLOWED to HAVE an opinion and our right to voice those opinions is protected by our constitution’s Bill of Rights, which I feel is threatened by a president who demands loyalty to him, the person, instead of loyalty to the constitution.

Quantities of free buttons are limited as I can only afford to give away so many… if you would like to purchase a set of these buttons, check out the Youngstown Special in my online store. They are also available individually in two sizes, with your choice of back, in a separate listing.

Like this:

Supplies have arrived, so I’ve updated the back options in my store to include zipper pulls for 1.25″ buttons. Now I’m working on illusion photos so you can see what the designs will look like on zipper pulls.

Illusion photos are not actual photographs… the image is created by dropping the button design behind a “digital photo template” on the computer, then exporting the image as a png or jpg photo file. It is a great way to see what a button will look like without wasting supplies and it also eliminates light issues that I have while trying to snap clear photos of small objects with shiny surfaces.

I don’t have a display template for zipper pulls… a quick search on Etsy found one for 1″ zipper pulls (link here) but, not in 1.25″ so I made my own clip art by snapping a real photo and removing the background, &c. It’s not the best… but it does give folks an idea of what the button will look like as a zipper pull.

Here’s what it looks with some of my designs:

I added the URL note because I’m thinking about using that photo to promote my business.

BTW, notice how the blue “Christian” and “#resist” printed darker than my original design? (If you want to compare, I posted an illusion photo in my Breaking Silence post.) Yeah, that’s one of those surprise color shifts that can happen when you design in GIMP, which uses an RGB color system, and print on high end machines that use CYMK color technology. Some surprises are cool as can be… like when a gold color displays yellowish on the computer and prints shiny gold… but some send me back to the drawing board. I should pick a different blue, but leaving it dark gives a dual meaning since there are people so brainwashed by the Religious Right that they cannot see or believe Christians can be liberals or Democrats.

Well, I best end this before I go rambling off on another soap box… thanks for reading!

I took a break from uploading new button designs to my online store to make some 1.25″ promo magnets for my daughter’s new business, Brattons Affordable Fashions, LLC.

Creating her logo, then modifying it for the button design was fun… she wanted a pair of curvy ladies, so I drew the silhouettes in InkScape. We also made little flyers that she can pass out locally with her business cards.

Odds are, her business cards and flyers will get tossed… but, most folks tend to keep a free magnet that is strong enough to hold a few papers on a fridge or metal file cabinet so it is a good idea to put a URL where your potential customers will see it every day.

I made her buttons as fridge magnets with thick, black rubber magnets inserted into the back. I also make office magnets, which have strong ceramic magnets hidden inside so the back is metal. Those are nice for dry erase magnet boards, too.

If you would like promo magnets made for your business, please let me know.

Thank you!

UPDATE: due to security issues and shopping cart limitations encountered while trying to launch her business, my daughter moved her online clothing store to a new website host and obtained her own URL of BrattonFashion.com (with no S after Bratton) that she can point directly to her new website without having to bounce through her old host… she’s learning. She is also expanding her business model to include business attire and a men’s line. I updated the title of this post here, per her request, as this blog post shows up in google searches and it looks like her logo and button designs need updated, too.